Flushing out the NCAA

A North Carolina legislator has had enough of organizations reacting to the state’s bathroom bill, by Gawd, and is ready to do something about it.

An N.C. House Republican says the NCAA and ACC have “stepped out of bounds” by moving sports championships out of North Carolina over House Bill 2.

Rep. Mark Brody, a Republican from Monroe, announced in a Facebook post Sunday that he’ll file a bill this week to address the boycotts.

Brody says his “Athletic Association Accountability Act” will “determine whether the NCAA and the ACC have violated their tax-exempt status by engaging in political or lobbying activities.”

“The NCAA and the ACC have allegedly engaged in excessive lobbying activities that exceeded their respective charters by using economic retaliation against NC for the purpose of forcing the General Assembly to adopt social legislation that is not connected to their core mission,” Brody wrote.

Tell us more, dude.

It’s unclear how Brody’s proposal would work, and his Facebook post offers no further details about his bill. According to the IRS website, nonprofit groups can’t have tax-exempt status “if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation.” The groups “may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.”

Brody isn’t the first Republican politician to question whether the boycotts should be considered excessive lobbying under Internal Revenue Service standards.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson of Concord brought up the issue when the ACC announced its boycott last year. “This blatant political move – less than two months before the election – brings into question their tax-exempt status,” he said in a news release at the time. “This is an avenue we intend to explore.”

As long as they don’t have to go exploring down Constitution Boulevard, anyway.  I doubt he really cares about the “more” part, anyway.  It’ll make for some tasty red meat to throw the bathroom-obsesseds’ way and that’s what really counts for now.  In the meantime, Stacey Osburn has no comment.

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UPDATE:  The nerve of some people…  poor ol’ Pat.

78 Comments

Filed under Political Wankery, The NCAA

78 responses to “Flushing out the NCAA

  1. Argondawg

    I still can’t figure out what in the hell HB2 was trying to do. It’s one of the poorest written pieces of legislation I have ever seen.

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    • David K

      Homophobia/Transphobia run amok. I blame Caitlyn Jenner. Christians saw Bruce Jenner in drag getting awarded at the ESPY’s and they lost their damn minds trying to figure out how to put a stop to it all.

      Like

      • Uglydawg

        Christianaphobia also runs amok.

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        • David K

          At least the Christians deserve it. Gay and trans people just want to use the damn bathroom in peace.

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          • Your mind is filled with hate

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          • 81Dog

            I”m sorry, I must have missed something my entire life. Have they been forced to pee outside all these years? This whole issue is ridiculous. They can go to the bathroom where they’ve been going forever. I’m blissfully unaware of anyone checking under stalls, or under anyone’s hood, to see if their plumbing matches the gender designation nature gave them.

            Live and let live works fine for most folks. That’s where they should have left this one. I don’t hate anyone. Keep your private stuff private, and we all get along fine.

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    • heyberto

      Living in NC I’ve seen enough of this crap. Both sides are to blame, and McRory was right when he said the left started it not that it matters. But if you want to know what happened, here it is: The city of Charlotte passed a law requiring everyone to use the bathroom of their choice. It was not very well thought out either and was just a political move to look progressive. No one had made a public issue of it, it came out of nowhere. So the state legislature, held overwhelmingly by Republicans acted with HB2 to counteract what Charlotte was doing before the ordinance was in effect. HB2 was said to remove the requirement, and allow private establishments, companies, etc., to make whatever choice they wanted regarding bathrooms. Publicly owned facilities (parks, courthouses, etc.) had to stick with the traditional arrangement, and you had to use whatever bathroom was listed on your birth certificate. I’m assuming that’s what HB2 said, I haven’t read it but I haven’t heard anyone dispute that. The idea that private establishments can make up their own minds is best for their customers / constituents / etc. seems reasonable to me.

      Well, the devil was in the details. Republicans piggybacked some stuff that shouldn’t have been in the bill, and those things were bad, in my view. It removed some workplace protections on transgender or something, I don’t recall exactly what it was.. but basically, they got greedy and asked for more than they needed to which made it even easier to pick apart and attack.

      So, it came down to PR, and the left successfully argued that it was discrimination and won that battle. I thought McRory did a decent job with the argument, saying this needs time and discussion before just changing it, and I agree with that.

      Personally, there really wasn’t a problem with bathrooms, in my view. No one was policing it anyway, and the funny thing is, they’re not going to be policing it with the new law. I think where there is a point to be made, is when you talk about shower facilities, dressing rooms and the like. I don’t have an issue with transgender people, I want them to feel included and not discriminated against, but I don’t want to sacrifice anyone else’s protections either. Status quo seemed the best of both worlds until a dialogue could be had to figure out how to address it.

      But all they did was open a huge can of worms, and both sides share the blame for how badly this has been handled. It’s just time for it to go away.

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      • Actually heyberto, it didn’t come out of nowhere.

        Charlotte had been considering non-discrimination protections for the LGBT community since 1992 and a similar ordinance to the one passed in 2016 was proposed in 2015.

        Also, I don’t think considering protections for the rights of others “starting” it.

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        • heyberto

          What protections? Who was policing bathrooms and making problems for transgender people? Aside from that, who can name a case where a transgender person was harmed? If a transgender woman goes into the woman’s bathroom.. she uses a stall. If a transgender man walks into a bathroom, no one knows because they either use a stall or had a sex change and are equipped in such a way that no one can question it. This was a political move by the city and nothing more. So yes, they made this an issue when it really wasn’t one.

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        • Macallanlover

          You wouldn’t, but you don’t catch on to many things, so no surprise.

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  2. Bright Idea

    I agree that NC’s bathroom bill is both stupid and unnecessary and I also agree that the ACC and NCAA strong arming any state on any issue is both stupid and unnecessary.

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    • Please explain how they are strong arming the state on anything? Unless I missed something, the state of North Carolina is still free to legislate however it chooses.

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      • Bright Idea

        They told NC beforehand they would pull events out if HB 2 passed.Just because the legislature refused to be strong armed by the ACC and NCAA with an economic boycott does not mean that it was not strong arming. Same thing would have happened in Georgia had Gov. Deal not vetoed a religious liberty bill that the NCAA did not like. The NFL does it too. I call it strong arming at its finest, even when it doesn’t work.

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        • Maybe it’s a to-may-toe, to-mah-toe thing here, but what you call strong arming sounds like the free market at work to me.

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          • Bright Idea

            Do you really believe it is “free market” when a powerful organization like the NCAA tells a state legislature if you don’t vote our way we’ll pull multi-million dollar events already awarded to your state based on a bidding system? No matter where you stand on the social issues the NCAA is clearly trying to influence a political decision best left to the residents of the state while also enjoying a huge tax break from those same residents.

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        • Ruteger

          Are you sure the NCAA warned them before they passed the law? Part of its controversy was that Charlotte passed their protections, and then within a month the legislature called a special session to pass the bill within a single day (including signature from the governor). The NCAA warned them within this timeframe not to pass it?

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          • heyberto

            The ACC did. They immediately pulled last year’s Championship game for football once it passed.

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            • Ruteger

              Do you have a link for that? I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that the ACC or NCAA had the time or understanding to warn the legislature in that month timeframe before they passed HB2. And HB2 passed on March 23rd, and some quick googling shows the ACC pulled their football championship on September 14th, two days after the NCAA announced similar with the men’s basketball games.

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        • Bazooka Joe

          Its their tournament(s) – they can move them as they please. And considering most colleges and universities are left leaning, is anyone stupid enough to think this reaction wouldn’t happen ?

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    • Derek

      I always hated that the International Olympic Committee strong armed South Africa during apartheid. What business is it of the IOC to meddle in their domestic politics?

      Btw, the above is sarcasm meant to underscore to utter stupidity of your “point.”

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      • heyberto

        In the case of the NBA, which moved this year’s all star game out of Charlotte over the bill, was that they weren’t trying to say ‘change’. It was always framed as they weren’t going to play here when that’s the law.

        NC has really become a lighting rod, because there are plenty of states with bigotry laws on the books, from what I’ve been told.. not necessarily bathrooms, but as a precedent, it makes you wonder what qualifies it. It seems to me it’s based on the bad publicity, not because they actually care about making the world better.

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      • Charles

        Until 21,000 people die in the bathroom equality movement (a’la apartheid), then the utter stupidity will dwell only in your analogy.

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        • Derek

          Because deaths are the only thing about apartheid worth complaining about? Perhaps we should refrain from interference into injustice until the death toll hits 6 million in order to respect the victims of the holocaust.

          An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere unless no one’s dead in which case fuck it.

          Martin Luther King

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  3. Hogbody Spradlin

    Are we stirring the pot today?

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Dawgpa

    Senator is trying to stir the pot this morning.

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  5. Bulldog Joe

    The NCAA should pull its events out of Athens.

    No one wants to use the damn bathrooms there.

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  6. HVL Dawg

    I wonder how important tax exempt status is to the NCAA considering their recent financial performance.

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  7. SemperFiDawg

    Maybe I’m just dumb, but tell me again why the NCAA should have inserted itself into this political/social cat fight to begin with.

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    • 'Ol Gill

      You gotta have some good PR to balance out the wage slavery.

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    • Cojones

      If they passed a law in N.C. refusing to let black people use the bathrooms, would you say that the NCAA had a right to pull out of earlier contracts? As a minority, their rights are now protected from the horseshit that went on politically against that minority when I was growing up in the 50s. One of the big factors for civil rights legislation concerned how many great black kids who were athletic were being recruited northward and not coming to SEC segregated schools.

      LGBTs are a minority protected by the same federal regulations that protect other minorities from a voracious majority eager to make everyone think and act like the majority does. It was bullshit then and it’s bullshit now. Don’t you suspect that’s an empty threat the NC legislator has made and don’t you think that, if NC threatens the NCAA status, that others in states that revere their college sports will join against them? No one should have any truck with any state where the legislators are turning into dictators against minorities and others. Hell, that state has legislated against the cities, counties and communities and is leading other Republican legislators in other states to follow suit. The attempt is now being made by Republican legislators down in Fl who are toadying to the sugar beet growers and oil frackers by attempting to run local govt away from stopping the contamination being dumped into aquifers in their county, into the Gulf and into the Atlantic. What say you D.I.F.?

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    • McTyre

      Maybe the myriad of companies who help bankroll NCAA events and put their product brands behind it? Bigotry – real or perceived – associated with host city or state isn’t good for most brands. Hoping the extreme factions in the Ga Capitol don’t strong arm the leadership into signing off on a bill that may cost us future events.

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  8. Uglydawg

    I think the guy’s got a case. The NCAA needs to keep it’s long nose out of politics and do some reflecting on their own f’d up ways of functioning.
    They did more harm to Todd Gurley than will ever be done to someone who can’t figure out whether they should squat or stand or squat to pee because of some silly law. It’s all made up and PC.

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    • Bazooka Joe

      Tell that to churches who do much more of that than the ncaa has ever dreamed of… If anyone needs tax exempt status stripped its the churches.

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  9. Derek

    Not that many of us were alive back then but I wonder how many of the “conservatives” around here would have complained about Ali having his license to box yanked because he wouldn’t accept being drafted?

    Frankly, I don’t have an issue with the actions of NCAA today or that of the state boxing commissions in 1968. I may disagree with the result but I never questioned their authority to act.

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    • Cojones

      See comment above that we were typing at the same moments.

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    • doofusdawg

      Name one thing that Republican controled governmental bodies do that you disagree with but you don’t question their authority to act.

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      • Derek

        Prosecute drug laws.

        Lie.

        Make rich people richer while making poor people poorer.

        Start dumb ass wars.

        Use peoples fears and prejudices to gain the votes of people whose actual interests they do not serve such as pitting poor and middle class white against Muslims, Mexicans, “welfare queens,” “young bucks” etc…. or using religious issues to manipulate people’s faith to gain their votes.

        Make it harder to vote.

        And if you want to sum up why I really, really hate them look at today’s heath care debate. Trump won promising poor whites that he had something better for them than Obamacare. I knew then but they know now, he’s full of shit. The top .01% get a 200k tax cut. America will never be great without that shit that’s for sure.

        You want another example then look at the Mulford Act. Very pro-2nd amendment for white people. Black people? Not so much. They are lying hypocritical douchebags.

        But they are within their rights to do all of these things because stupid people vote for them. Lots of stupid people.

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        • doofusdawg

          I didn’t think you could Derek. Is it any wonder why we can’t have adult conversations to try and solve real problems. You’re an ass.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Derek

            What problem are you attempting to solve? The problem of your dislike of facts? Sorry.

            There’s plenty of bullshit out there to make you feel better. Trumps twitter feed for example.

            But you’re the serious people right? Ok so trump wire tapped me. Bad and sick guy.

            Evidence? Huh? What’s that? I meant the trump administration and by wiretap I meant he’s living in my toaster.

            Trump is the love child of a Himalayan yak and a baboon. Not a legit president. I have a team of investigators looking at this. You won’t believe what they’re finding. Got the idea from a kasich staffer. He started it. I’m gonna finish it.

            Is this more your comfort level of discourse?

            You’ve lost the serious card. Forever.

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            • Faulkner

              You forgot about the Russians. Don’t forget about them. They are the root of all the ills facing the country today.

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              • Derek

                I haven’t forgotten about the Russians but their joint activities with the Trump campaign would not fall under the category of “authorized” hence they went unmentioned.

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        • Hogbody Spradlin

          Aw, Schtick Dreck, you’re so cute with your Ninth Grade social justice rants.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Derek

            Good substantive counterpoint. You gave us all a lot to consider.

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            • Argondawg

              I’m pretty independent but the compassion coming from the left has been so heart warming…..I think I might just join the party. They are as bat shit crazy as Trump but they mean well…..and they way they have reacted is just converting people of all persuasions. Derek is a fine example of a rational, complex thinker. We should all strive to understand each other with the same fervor. Continue on Derek…..don’t let these knuckle dragging mouth breathers slow you down.

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              • Derek

                If your point is that I’m not doing a good job of gaining converts, believe me when I say “I don’t give a fuck.” I have exactly zero fucks to give.

                It’s an art. You (everybody) should try it: https://www.google.com/amp/s/markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck/amp

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                • Macallanlover

                  You cannot win anyone over because you are too dumb to be persuasive to anyone but another idiot. Only larger sheep could soak up the BS party line as much as you. They are the only ones that support you. Blind following the blind. Dumb and dumber. Carry on Komrade, was it a blow to the head, or just killed too many brain cells. Hard to be so clueless in a natural way. Please go follow Cal or Colorado, they have a lot of people lost in space among their fan bases…and some of them begin to think when they grow up.

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                • Derek

                  Why can you morons only insult? Granted I insult but I don’t ONLY insult. All you have is pointless non-substantive ad hominem. You can’t win an argument if you don’t make an argument. You don’t present an argument so how can you possibly win one?

                  I made several points above. Go after them. You haven’t because you can’t because you’re an idiot.

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                • Hogbody Spradlin

                  You make assertions, not points. And you do it in a repulsive, offensive, ad hominem. Your material requires no rebuttal because (i) it’s merely your opinion, and (ii) this isn’t the forum for it. You get mocked because you deserve to be mocked.

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                • Derek

                  Point- def. “an argument or idea put forward by a person in a discussion.”

                  Assertion- def. “a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.”

                  Huge difference….dick. You really showed me huh?

                  You’re mocked because you’re stupid. Literacy is important dude. Try it sometime.

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              • Bazooka Joe

                Unfortunately what the left is doing now is no different than what the right did to Obama. They did the same crap, but now whine when its being done to them (not saying either was/is right… just saying you shouldn’t dish it out if you cant take it in return).

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        • SemperFiDawg

          Personally I never understood, and still dont, resenting someone who was better off than me. If you buy into it, it seems to me to guarantee eternal resentfulness. Life’s to short. Many, if not most, are where they are in life due to their own decisions: good or bad, but I digress.

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          • Derek

            What does resentment have to do with it? We as a county decide what our priorities are. They have to be paid for. Warren Buffet offered a million bucks to any CEO who could show he paid a higher marginal tax rate than his secretary. That was at least ten years ago. No takers. Mitt Romney was paying less than 15%. Were you?

            What I resent isn’t the wealth. I myself benefit from the GOP tax policies. Doesn’t make it right. What I resent is the politics whereby big money buys political system that allows them to opt out of paying for their own government.

            The second the shit hits the fan it ain’t their kids on the front lines. If they ain’t grabbing a weapon and manning a post they should at least quit bitching about the fucking bill.

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      • They don’t actually cut spending
        They don’t actually care about keeping the government out of our lives
        They don’t actually want to cut taxes across the board

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  10. Cousin Eddie

    The one thing I will say is I really don’t Mark Emmert to set any political policies. He screws up enough NCAA policies.

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  11. 69Dawg

    I do not care where people pee. That being said the states have to grant tax exempt status too not just the Feds. The state could declare that the NCAA and it’s affiliated schools will no longer enjoy that status for the purpose of North Carolina’s income tax. So and this is just a worst case thing, the state could tax the money that a visiting school would be paid by an in state school as NC Income. It would be cutting their nose off to spite their faces but there is nothing unconstitutional about it. Just remember that Section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code and most State Income Tax codes say “There shall be a tax on income from whatever source derived except:” and the other thousands of pages of the Code are merely granting exceptions. The state can tax your ass off and there is very little you can do but lobby.

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  12. ASEF

    HB2 was a dumbass law designed to get McCrory reelected. It had the opposite effect – McCrory lagged Trump and Burr by considerable margins. In other words, plenty of Trump and Burr voters left McCrory off the ballot or voted for his opponent.

    The NC law makes it perfectly legal for me to tell someone I think might be gay to get out of my business. It legalizes discrimination. It also gutted citizen’s rights to sue in state court or just about anything. It also made it illegal for, say, Asheville to raise its local minimum wage or pass a veterans rights ordinance. Just a dumbass power grab, with the bathroom provision a shiny distraction to rally the “Christians” (meaning, the subset of dumbass bigots who give the rest of us a bad name) to the power grab’s defense.

    Calling the NCAA and ACC business decisions a “lobbying activity” would just be more state millions poured into stupid lawsuits that the state keeps losing.

    NC politicians are making Alabama’s legislature look good. And that’s bad.

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    • NC politicians are making Alabama’s legislature look good. And that’s bad.

      That really is saying something. Alabama’s governor got caught having an affair because he was too stupid to cut off auto-sync of his iMessages from his iPhone to his iPad.

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      • Cojones

        Yes, and both areas have their problems revolving around body parts we use to pee through. And their brains match the thinking power of the same parts.

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